NOTE: Inuyasha isn't mine, okay? I'm doing this for Sesshoumaru's sake.
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EMBODIMENTThe Lord of the West looked at his generals. The men fought to avoid cringing and wiling their hearts to beat normally before the fierce demon lord.
"When?" the taiyoukai snarled.
"Just before sunrise, my lord." The general tensed when he heard the growl.
"Regen-sama, please give us your damage report." Rin said from her father's side. Regen was assigned to patrol the attacked village.
The general in question hesitated to heed the command from the girl and instead looked at the youkai lord but the lord looked back at him waiting for his answer. Regen turned back to the girl.
Rin's eyes were hard as flint as she stared down the general. "General, the more you dally in your report the more people are being slaughtered. Posturing and hesitation is neither needed nor beneficial in this situation."
Despite himself Regen felt a grudging respect building at the strength of character of this slip of a girl. Damn, she can fight too but he won't admit that to anybody.
"Apologies, Rin-sama. Houses, animals and crops were burned down. The people slaughtered. No one was left alive."
Sesshoumaru felt from the general's youki that there was something that the general was not telling them but he didn't want to distract his ward from her questions.
"Did they leave any sign of who they were?" The girl continued. She hated questioning Regen. It was like pulling teeth from him. But if she didn't take over from her father they would end up with one less general and a great deal of bloody mess in the war room.
Since the Western Lord didn't stop his ward he has no reason not to answer her. "No one was left alive so we didn't find anyone to give us information."
"That is not the answer to my question, general." By Kami, Regen thought, the captain can be as cold as her sire.
The other generals were relieved that they were not the ones being grilled. They were actually glad the girl took over this particular task from her sire. The Taiyoukai has no patience for this kind of thing. If Regen isn't careful he might find his stupid head parted from his body.
"What does Rin-sama mean?" Regen felt he was treading on dangerous ground.
"These were no ordinary brigands. They swept in to burn and kill everything without thieving. They want to sow fear, nothing else. This is a form of threat and they are challenging us to try to stop them." The girl didn't even flinch at the hard stare the general threw in her direction. The girl might be human but she has proved her mettle in and out of battle.
"Hn." Sesshoumaru agreed at his ward's assessment. His ward lost her human parents to brigands.
"Let me rephrase my question: Did they leave any evidence on the site?" The Western Lord's adjutant sarcastically said. He was pleased when Rin held her own against Regen.
The general now remembered the strange and horrendous items he saw at the entrance of the village.
"Yes, I believe they did. Embedded at the entrance of the village were three poles with inscriptions."
"What does it say?"
"It says 'The Sons of Wrath."
~O~O~O~
"Jaken, where is everybody?" Kagome looked around at the deserted dining hall.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, his adjutant and the generals are all in the war room, human." The toad demon plunked a hot bowl of rice in front of Kagome.
"His adjutant? Who is that?"
"Rin of course! Don't you know anything?" Jaken huffed at the ignorant human.
"Oh!" Kagome blinked. "I thought that Rin was a captain." Kagome looked at the selection of food set out in front of her.
"She is, as well as the right hand of Sesshoumaru-sama." The kappa's voice sounded with a little tinge of pride to Kagome's ears.
"Wow! I didn't know that Rin has such an esteemed position in Sesshoumaru-sama's military."
"Hmp! She is there because she has proved herself worthy. My lord Sesshoumaru isn't a trusting soul."
A commotion outside the hall made Kagome open the door. She found Rin walking out of the war room at the farther end of the hallway.
"Rin! What's happening?"
"Kagome-sama, there has been a disturbance in one of the villages." Rin's face looked pinched as she relayed the story to the shocked miko.
"I'm sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can help with?"
"Miko, you will stay here at the castle." The voice came from inside the war room.
"Sesshoumaru-sama, I believe you need all the help you can get for this problem." She faced the taiyoukai.
Before the Western Lord could decline a runner entered and bowed before his lord and reported that another village has been attacked in the east-west area.
The Western Lord issued curt commands to his generals prompting them into action. Rin left at a run for the stables to get Ah-Un.
Regen was almost glad to be out the stifling war room when he heard his name from the taiyoukai lord. His heart skipped a beat but stood his ground.
"Miko, you will come with me and Rin. Meet her at the gate."
"Hai! Thank you, Sesshoumaru-sama." The miko bowed and left leaving the two men inside.
Regen willed his eyes to remain downcast as the Western lord approached him.
"Regen, do not presume to know what this Sesshoumaru wants."
The general bowed low thankful that his head is still attached to his head. He was about to voice his gratitude when it caught in his throat.
"Do so again and you will be stripped of your rank and life. Move." The general beat a hasty retreat after bowing low to the demon lord.
~O~O~O~
The stench of death and burning fields and cattle assaulted everyone's senses as they landed in the village. No living thing stirred.
Kagome felt her heart constrict and tears gather as she spied children among the dead. "Gods…they didn't even spare the children." She clenched her teeth and hands in anger.
"Spread out, see if there were survivors." Rin ordered. She knew in her heart that the search would not yield any good news.
The taiyoukai lord stopped in front of the three poles with its grisly attachments on its length, his brows creased in thought. A memory flashed in his mind. His hand grabbed Bakusaiga.
Kagome walked to where the bodies lay. She said a prayer for the slain. She noticed that the bodies of the townspeople looked like they were tossed in the middle of the town square; to make sure someone will see them. None were burned.
Suddenly Kagome recoiled in shock when she realized that the bodies have been mutilated. Body parts were missing but the said parts were nowhere near the corpses.
With a start, the miko thought she saw a figure move in the trees. Hope flared in her heart hoping that it's a survivor. She ran towards the trees and saw the back of a hunched figure leaning on a tree. Thank the gods this one was spared. It looked like an old man.
"Grandfather, are you all right?" She slipped her hand under the old man's elbow and helped him up.
Kagome knew something was wrong when she felt his arms. It wasn't the frail feel of an old man's….
"Nice to see you again, priestess…."
~}O{~